This audio track was recorded in July 2022, seven months after my initial COVID-19 infection. It describes some of the symptoms and co-morbidities I experienced and some of the many drugs and medications I'd been prescribed by numerous doctors and specialists when I was diagnosed with severe Long Covid.

Listening back to this audio almost two years later, I am perplexed by the animated tone and even laughter I can hear in my voice. The intonation and energy that is audible, grossly contradicts the reality of the story itself and also the dire health situation I found myself in at that time.

I put the enthusiastic tone down to the fact that I was clearly having a 'good day' - something I was fortunate to experience only once every few weeks at that time. On a 'good day' I would have conjured up enough energy to record this audio - although post-exertional malaise would have exhausted (and confined me to bed) for days, if not weeks after I recorded this.

I also think the animation in my voice is merely a product of me, a) trying to be stoic and optimistic, and b) my three decades of professional voiceover experience before this. Perhaps I felt that no-one would stand to listen if it sounded horrible and therefore I approached it in full professional voice over mode.

One thing is for sure - despite me leaving in the odd cough and bout of breathlessness, I would have edited this audio to a fine art. Realistically it probably took me the whole day (and in fact numerous days) to record and edit it. In hindsight I shouldn't have edited it at all, enabling the listener to better hear and understand how devastatingly shocking my condition was at the time.

I now listen to this as a time capsule piece. Two years after my initial infection people ask me every day am I 'fully recovered' from Long Covid. My life is most certainly, seemingly, back to normal - my routines and ability to carry out daily tasks is mostly back to pre-covid levels again.

However I do still experience severe gastrointestinal problems, insomnia, major cognitive impairment (mostly memory related) and post-exertional malaise on a daily basis. I find socialising extremely depleting and if I'm not hyper-cautious of what I eat and what I do, I still experiences days and weeks where I don't have the energy to get off the couch or talk to anybody.

A simple, all-natural 'protocol' definitely helps and is, I believe, what pulled me from the depths of Long Covid despair only a few months after recording this audio. I hereby share the protocol at this link:

www.tinyurl.com/LCprotocol

and those that I have previously shared it with (those who have also followed it strictly) have reported that they too have improved symptoms, hastened recovery (and even prevented re-infection) of the COVID virus.

Long Covid EXISTS. It is different for different people, and sadly for many it is completely devastating. Long Covid has taken the lives of many formerly fit and healthy people, and continues to do so in 2024.

Despite government and global medical advice, I urge you to ALWAYS do everything in your power to inhibit the spread of this insidious disease. Mask if you aren't well. Better yet, don't leave the confines of your home and do not socialise until you are fully recovered. Sanitise. Wash everything. Keep a respectable distance from others and shared surfaces.

And last of all, don't think it can't, or won't happen to you or those you love and live with. As a fit, healthy, always-optimistic young person, I would not have ever expected it would happen to me. Be kind. Be cautious. Be respectful of boundaries. Be open to learning more about the things you don't understand.

New tracks tagged #PostExertionalMalaise